It's a....

 

I know what you're thinking, "I thought they weren't going to find out the sex." Correct. We were not. But we had our ultrasound & our technician neglected to ask us if we were going to find out, and well also, our little boy is anything but shy (he's also healthy as far as we can tell...which, as we all know, is the REALLY important part). :)  

I'm so excited to know the sex & I'm thrilled to be adding another little guy to our family.  I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I'm planning on making  baby's coming home outfit. Originally, I was going to make one for a boy & one for a girl. Which, now is unnecessary. I bought OOP Kwik Sew 2246 for just the occasion. So now we're on to fabric.  I'm loving stripes, but they are so easily found in RTW that it seems silly to go that route. I've been perusing Spoonflower instead & I've found some lovelies.  This one, so far, is my favorite (click the image to go to the source).  

And I also love this one....

And I'm only getting started in my perusing. :) The knit fabric from Spoonflower is nearly $30/yard (GULP!) so I really need to be sure about my choice. 

Next week I should have at least 3 maternity wardrobe pieces to share, too, so stay tuned. :)

Making Progress

Source

I don't have any pictures yet, but I've successfully drafted & finished one knit skirt from a fabric in my stash that wasn't listed in the original plan. It is a funky print that includes red, white, blue & brown, which means all but my planned yellow top will match it.  

I've also muslined a woven skirt with a fold over elastic waistband. It went well other than the fact that I applied the FOE to the hem of the skirt instead of the waist the first time around. That made me giggle. Which is good, these days it could just have easily made me cry.

Aaaand I have 2 maternity top patterns all cut up & ready to sew. New wardrobe here I come. Now if only it would stop snowing so I could wear it!

Maternity SWAP: Skirt 1: Fail.

I stumbled upon this tutorial on Pinterest & thought it would be perfect for my black linen skirt. It should have turned out like the above skirt. Did it?

Negative. It did not.  In fact, I removed...prepare yourself...THIRTY inches from the side seams. Thirty inches PLUS tapering it in at the bottom. I mean, I realize that I'm a "pear" and that I gain weight in my hips/thighs...but I am no where as big as this skirt would have you believe.

 To top it off, I expected it to be an "afternoon project". It's turned into more like a 5 afternoon project (2 of those afternoons were wasted when my serger LITERALLY fell apart...more on that later) And I just can't figure out where it went so wrong. For a moment, I thought, "Maybe my fabric is too heavy" but it's just linen. It was light enough to require a lining (from Bemberg Rayon....what a pain!)

I keep going back & fourth as to whether to just declare this one a wadder & move on. But GOSH. What a waste of fabric that would be. Not to mention time. I'm starting to feel like this skirt must be conquered. At all costs.

 I was kind of depending on this "pattern" to be a jumping off point for future skirts. Sigh. At least now I know what won't work, right?? Back to the drawing board, I guess.

Also, I ordered (& received) my other skirt fabric...only to discover I only ordered 1 yard of each. Sheesh!! I don't know WHAT I was thinking. Guess I'll order another yard & have some nice sized scraps.

Finished! Vogue 8581

Well, Vogue 8581came together somewhat quickly.  It really is a very straightforward design, and it lends itself quite nicely to "maternity", but I didn't like the gathering & I was a little surprised to find that it recommended 3/4" elastic at the waist.

It's been finished for over a week & I've worn it a number of times, so that's a good sign.  I do find myself adjusting the waist gathers a lot, but I think that  can mostly be attributed to the fact that I used 1/4" elastic in a 3/4" tunnel.  I just couldn't bring myself to rip it out & re-do it.

I totally blew the neck gathering, too.  I spent all this time meticulously gathering only to find that I didn't gather it enough for the neckband to be properly stretched, thus causing a won't-lie-flat neckband. So, I ripped it out & used an elastic casing instead. Next time I'll do that the first time around. :)  

I also decided to leave the sleeves as flutter sleeves, because I like them :) and also because it was faster.  However, I think that they could stand to be a tad longer.

All in all I though this was a good pattern. I'm happy with how it turned out. I should be able to churn the next one out in an afternoon (famous last words, right??) You can see my official review with less ramblings on Pattern Review.

And here's the obligatory "belly shot" It was hard getting a good silhouette with all that extra fabric. :) And since we're on the subject, I'm 19 weeks along now. The morning sickness is long gone & I'm feeling great.  So great, in fact, that I'm behind on my sewing but ahead on housework. :) Oh well, you can't do it all.